Fun And Games
by Shell Lee
Summary: Sam and Daniel are caught in another world, while Jack and Teal’c are holding down the fort. Crossover with the game Diablo II. Eventually SamDaniel.
1. Intro to Diablo II

Fun And Games

Chapter I

Spoilers: Major for Avatar, Gamekeeper, and general knowledge of season 7.  
Disclaimer: One part Diablo II, One part Stargate, and a dash of Caverns of Socrates. I barely own the plot.  
AN: I have adjusted some of the things in the game, only because those things don't make sense in the game. For instance Kashya really runs the camp, rather than stand around and talk to the RPG character.

There is an anecdote that Samuel Johnson, the British writer, was asked how he would refute Bishop Berkeley's statement that the world was an illusion.  
"I refute it thus!" he said, and kicked a large rock.  
Some people think he was right; some think he was wrong; and some don't think about it at all.  
I've been thinking about it.  
Dennis L. McKiernan, Caverns of Socrates

Chapter I

Daniel lay there, just listening to all the sounds of the Sisters of the Sightless Eye's camp at night. The rain was falling again, a common occurrence, being the rainy season and all. It made such a noise as it hit the canvas tent above him. Softer, he could hear the sound of the aqueduct, built to serve the outlying farming communities. The hens clucked as they couldn't find a safe place from the rain. The cows were silent, probably having gone to sleep long since, much more used to being outside in all sorts of weather.

He could hear Charsi making sure her temporary forge was still going. She might even decide later that some weapon or tool needed work. That would wake Gheed, who needed all the beauty sleep he could get.

Warrive, he could hear, paced by the big fire in the middle of the camp, as it crackled and popped. It made him feel comfortable, as he was always there. Sometimes he wondered if the man even slept.

Akara was sitting in her tent cooking up some brew or another before she went to get some sleep. She ground away at the pedestal. He would've thought that the rain would've made this impossible, but then again she was working inside her tent. Gheed, he could hear snoring away in the tent across the camp. That snore could probably be heard in Lut Gholein.

Kashya had sisters coming and going all night. Some brought news of enemy movement. Others were going on missions to see what the monsters were doing. Some were just making sure that they wouldn't attack that night. There were precious few of her sisters to do those jobs. Some had died out there fighting the darkness. Others had been turned to the other side. Daniel knew that those losses were the ones Kashya felt the most.

On one of turrets two of Kashya's Rogues were having a conversation. It was quiet, out of consideration of those who could sleep in the camp, but that meant it was too low for Daniel to hear.

Sam shared a tent with him. He could hear her breathe. The slow steady sound told him that she was sound asleep, in the comfort and safety of the camp.

Beyond all that, Daniel could hear the various sounds of the wilderness. There were animals that hadn't caught the attention of some demon, and the demons themselves. They made such strange noises; he really had nothing to compare them to. The wind sighed its way through the branches of the trees, and the leaves rustled in the rain.

It was strange. They had seen neither hide nor hair of Jack and Teal'c since this began, days ago. He wondered if they were having problems. What were they up to? He didn't know.

"Daniel, go to sleep." Sam wasn't as asleep as he had thought evidently.

"I can't it's too noisy."

"Well then stop thinking. It's keeping me up." Sam didn't move an inch, except for her mouth. She just wanted to sleep, he knew.

"I'm just wondering what Jack and Teal'c are doing. Are they all right? Is something going on out there that we don't know about?"

"Get some sleep. Tomorrow we face the biggest challenge yet, Blood Raven. And then we can contact the Colonel and Teal'c."

Jack stared at the screens. He should be there with them. Jack was in command of the SGC and was no longer on SG-1. He longed to be there with them, but really this was something that Daniel and Carter wanted to do alone. Try to work on their friendship.

It wasn't necessarily going down hill, Sam more felt the need to connect with her team mate. She still hadn't gotten over Daniel not visiting her when he was ascended.

Teal'c had wanted to participate also, but he also felt the need to stay out in case something happened. Then like the good Jaffa he was, he would come in and rescue the two.

Sam and Daniel were strapped into two chairs, and in a confusing mess of wires connected to two television screens. The chairs were adapted from the Gamekeeper's planet. Some bigwig in Washington thought they would make great training tools.

As Jack watched the screen with Daniel's name underneath, it showed Sam, as an Amazon, beating the living daylights out of a character named Blood Raven. It was strange because Blood Raven looked like Osiris, or rather the host, Sarah.

The other screen said Sam and showed Daniel on the other side of Blood Raven. He was in his werewolf form, making Daniel bigger and scarier than he was in real life.

A Druid and an Amazon. There was something indefinable about them like that. Daniel looked somehow rougher around the edges and Sam; she now embodied the phrase 'if looks could kill.' One real glance from her would be enough to drop most, if not all, the demons they were fighting. Such small changes made such a big difference.

The differences in Daniel and Carter's looks were not all that extreme. Well, Daniel in his human form. The fact that Daniel had different forms just boggled the mind. Daniel had shoulder length hair, put in pony tail, and he was decked out in animal skins. As a Druid, Daniel could change form into a bear or wolf. He could call sprit animals to him, and command some of the elements.

Carter's hair was long, going right down her back, and a bit blonder. She had it tied up in a pony tail on top of her head, and she was wearing red leather. As an Amazon, she couldn't do much of the supernatural stuff, but there were two spells that were very helpful. One slowed down projectiles fired from their enemies. The other made the enemies glow and took a bit out of the strange creatures.

Jack didn't know all this from reading the preliminary reports. It showed how much time he spent at these screens that he understood what was going on.

"Don't worry, General. The chairs are accelerating time for them, so they don't loose much time out here."

"Good to hear." It was perfectly safe. He had nothing to worry about, Jack knew, but there was this nagging doubt, a voice, that told him it was SG-1. SG-1 always got into trouble.

The voice that would've said, "but they always make it back out alive," was strangely absent.

"O'Neill, is there not something you should be doing?" Teal'c, what a guy to remind him that there was a mountain of paperwork on his desk. Some days he had to wonder how Cheyenne Mountain could hold it.

"I can hardly believe that you've defeated Blood Raven! Though she was once my closest friend, I pray that her tortured spirit remains banished forever. You have earned my respect, stranger... and the allegiance of the Rogues. I have placed several of my best warriors at your disposal. One would like to travel with you free of charge." That last line was said like she didn't know how this rouge could possibly actually want to travel with these outlanders. Sam could understand this sentiment. After all, these outlanders had done what Kashya and her rouges couldn't.

And they had done it. All in the camp had congratulated them, in one way or another. Even Gheed, in his own way, had said, "Some of those gals weren't so nice the first time around." Tonight there would be a celebration; the first of their victories over Andarial had been won, even if it was by a couple of outlanders.

"Daniel will change your mind about us eventually. I just know it. He has that effect on almost everyone."

"That hardly seems likely to happen. He is a Druid, after all. Why does an Amazon such as yourself journey with such a man?" This was the way their conversations always went. Kashya seemed to have something against men in general and druids in particular.

"He's my friend. And he has saved my life more times than I can count."

"Someday you will tell me the story of how you two met. Go talk to Akara. She has something to talk to you about." Kashya turned her back to talk to one of her scouts. Sam shook her head. This was one woman she just couldn't understand.

"I'll talk to you later, then." She waited for Kashya to nod her head before moving on to Akara's tent.

Since the chairs didn't have the information to really flesh out the characters, they were pulled from her and Daniel's memories. Kashya, for instance, was Anise. Gheed was Maybourne. That one fit quite well actually. Warrive was that elf-like leader of Latona, Marul. The one that surprised her most though was Akara. It was very strange to see the best friend that died sitting there giving you advice. Janet was the face of Akara. It was fitting that the healer of the camp was also the healer of SG-1.

There the similarities ended though. Akara was much more motherly and older. She had more grey than red in her hair. What Akara reminded Sam of the most was how she imagined Janet would've been like had she lived to become a grandmother.

"Akara," Sam called out to make sure she didn't startle the woman, "Kashya said you had something to talk about."

"Samantha, do come in. The rain this time of year is horrible. But it is better than snow. I was just about to get myself some tea. Would you like some?"

"I would love some tea. Thank you." The tea would be welcome after the cold pounding rain. "Kashya said you had something to tell me."

"Where is your other half? I would like to explain this only once." Akara put the tea leaves in the hot water to set.

"I believe he is visiting Gheed, trying to get some keys out of him without buying half the goods in his wagon." 'Her other half' was Daniel. They were a man and a woman traveling together, living together really, at least in the game, but they weren't together. Many, including Akara, thought they were.

"He will be there awhile. So it seems I will have to explain this twice. It is clear that we are facing an Evil difficult to comprehend, let alone combat. There is only one Horadrim sage, schooled in the most arcane history and lore, who could advise us... His name is Deckard Cain. You must go to Tristram and find him, my friend. I pray that he still lives." Akara poured the tea into two cups, one for herself and one for Sam.

"Tristram is too far to journey by foot... Cain would likely be dead, when you arrived. However, there is a magical portal that will take you there instantly. To open it, one must stand within the circle of Cairn Stones and touch them in a certain order. The proper order can be found in the runes written on the bark of the Tree of Inifuss. You must find the sacred Tree of Inifuss and bring back its bark. I will translate the runes to unlock the Stones' mystic pattern. I can see you have questions. Do not be afraid to ask." Sam blushed at being so transparent. A thousand questions were burning through her mind.

"Why would such a portal be created?"

"It was created after the tragedy, but before the monastery fell again, so that if it happened again we could move the rouges there as quickly as possible. Unfortunately the location of the tree was lost when Inifuss died just before the recent trouble."

Sam had a long list of questions.

"No, no, no, Gheed," Daniel didn't whine, he just complained in a slightly higher voice, "All I want are a few keys. I don't want a sword, axe, or armor."

"Ok, I understand that. But still I have some very nice pieces. How about a javelin? This one is guaranteed to never break. How about it?"

"NO! We prefer to get our weapons from Charsi. That way our money gets back to the sisters. They'll need all they can get, when they get back their monastery." Daniel was feed up with Gheed. He was so close to just leaving without the keys.

"Charsi is a fine girl…, but she has no business savvy! I know she means well, but the prices she charges for weapons and armor will never earn her a profit. As long as I keep filling her mind with stories of adventure, she'll never catch on to the fact that I'm raking in gold hand over fist!"

"Exactly why this money is going to the monastery! Now can I please buy some keys?" Ok, that time Daniel did wine, but it was for a very good cause.

"How about some lovely jewelry for the lady? I have this one ring that is sure to get her into your bed tonight. What do you say?" Gheed pressed on, determined to make this worth while. Keys don't cost much, and the ring was a safe bet. After all, the two were traveling together.

"I say no! Sam is a lovely woman, but we are just friends." Daniel got up to go. It was all he could do not to hit Gheed out of frustration.

Gheed, not one to pass up the opportunity to make money, gave in. "Here are the keys. I still think you're making a big mistake not giving her some nice jewelry."

Daniel counted out the twenty gold in payment. The ring would look gorgeous on Sam's hand, but he was sure Gheed didn't know what, if anything, the ring did. If it turned Sam purple, like the first time they had bought a ring off Gheed, he would be hearing about it for years.

After battling Gheed over the keys, Daniel needed some time to recover. It was harder to get keys from Gheed than it was to kill Blood Raven. So now Daniel sat just outside the entrance to the camp. The scenery was gorgeous. Not at all like when they had first entered the game. The detail upgrade made all the difference. He just wanted to savor the scenery.

The first time in, it had been very flat. It was good; it just didn't have depth to it. More like he was looking at a painting than seeing mountains and valleys before him. Most of all as he sat there just taking it in, he thought about how much had changed in just a short time. The people in the camp had started talking more, and saying other things than the stock of quotes in the game. It was one thing to know the game was learning from both him and Sam, it was another to see it happening.

Their memories and perceptions shaped how the game produced its virtual reality. For instance, it was fall, so the leaves on the trees had changed color to reflect that. Of course the view reminded him greatly of the area around Cheyenne Mountain.

Dr Lee wanted to understand better how the chairs learned from the person sitting in them, so all the "reality building" had been erased. He also thought that it would seem more real to the person sitting in the chair if it was built up from their memories. Daniel was beginning to think he was right.

"Master Daniel?" The question didn't startle him. Really, it didn't. It was the name he jumped at. He wasn't a master at anything. Not to mention the other implications of that word.

"Please call me Daniel, just Daniel."

"Ok then, Daniel, just Daniel," oh yeah she was yanking his chain, "is there anyone sitting here?"

"No." The Rouge's leathers creaked as she sat down.

"My name is Alcinoe." She smiled when Daniel turned to look at her. "I volunteered to accompany you and Mistress Sam on your adventure."

"Well 'Mighty Wisdom," I think you may have made a mistake in judgment." He could see the astonishment on her face. It wasn't everyday someone knew without being told what her name meant. "But I'm glad for the company. And I'm sure Sam will be too." The Rouge smiled. Daniel knew it, she was afraid they wouldn't want her to come along. "Just make sure I'm there when you call her 'Mistress Sam.'"

Alcinoe grinned at that one. Apparently the chairs had learned to apply the cultural meanings. "So, where are you from?"

Daniel grinned too. The truth would never do. He had read enough of the back story to spin a wonderful yarn about Scosglen, the Druid lands. He told of a place he had never been, the universities he had never seen. It was a grand yarn.

After that Daniel asked about where Alcinoe came from. He listened and asked questions, genuinely curious. And there he was, playing the anthropologist once again, even if it was just a game.


	2. Monsters do exsist

AN: Thank you to all who have reviewed this. Especally to Maeve Bran for reminding me that this story was still here. I had compleatly forgoten about the second chapter I had on my computer until she reviewed my story. So BIG thanks. 

Chapter II

By Shell Lee

It was a grueling question and answer session, first by Dr Lee and then by Dr Carmichael. Then it was off to the infirmary for testing to make sure that there were no side effects from the chairs.

Soon, but not soon enough for the two, they would be given beds for the night and start afresh in the game tomorrow.

The scientists had progressed from when Teal'c had his turn in the chair. The emergency escapes were mandatory to use at certain points in the game.

They had figured out the problem with the game that had lead to Teal'c being trapped in the game. The chairs picked up on surface thoughts, nothing real deep. Protecting privacy and getting the best bang for the buck, so to speak.

The first time SG-1 had encountered the chairs was around the anniversary of Daniel's parent's death and before the mission, Jack had been talking to Daniel about it, bringing up memories of his own losses, in particular that fateful mission a long time ago. That was why Sam and Teal'c didn't go into their own worlds to change the past. They didn't have the fresh memories of loss, and not being able to do anything.

It was replicated in Teal'c's case. The chairs picked up on the thoughts of never giving up.

Once they had figured that out, the rest was easy. For some reason (chough playing it while on base chough), one of the scientists had a copy of Diablo II. Upload it into the chairs and bingo. Problem solved by being just that side of realistic. The players would never take it seriously enough to come up with something like never giving up.

How exactly the chairs learned this information was a mystery still, not even those who designed them originally could help. Being based on an alien technology in the first place, it was never necessary to learn all about the chairs. Working with the original scientists from the planet allowed them to slow down the process of learning, at least. That was where Sam and Daniel came in. The two of them would go in and collect data on how the chairs learned.

After Dr Carmichael had taken another blood sample, Daniel was drained. There couldn't any blood left in his body. He could see that Sam in the next bed was feeling the same way. They were able to share one small smile, partners in misery, before Jack swept in to see how his 'kids' were doing, a bemused Teal'c following in his wake.

"So how was it? I hear the weather's lovely this time of year in middle earth," Jack said.

"Right now it's rainy and wet in Sanctuary. How has it been here?" Daniel asked.

"Oh, the usual, a clear view of the lovely florescent lights, contrasting nicely with the overcast walls." Jack looked all but pleased over the "good" weather. "You know we should bring in some nice fuchsia colors, maybe some curtains too."

"You have got to stop watching 'Trading Spaces.'" Sam shook her head at the General's antics.

"It's the off season. No hockey games. What else am I going to watch?"

"You could always try that little thing you're always telling me to do. Get a life," Daniel said.

"Yeah, but you're so much younger than me." Jack paused. "So how do you like those characters I picked out for you?" Jack knew when he was out numbered, hence the not-so-subtle change in conversation.

Daniel just rolled his eyes and went along with it. "It's strange looking down and seeing something else where your body should be. But I'm having trouble coming up with names for my spirit wolves."

"How many are there?" Jack new perfectly well how many, but he wasn't about to tell them that.

"Three and no I'm not naming them Larry, Curly and Moe."

The four of them bickered on into the night. It felt just like old times.

Sam walked around the white tree. It was alive somehow, but it had no leaves. The white color bark was totally smooth, soft to the touch. There weren't any of the upper level demons guarding it. So Andariel must not know its importance. Because this tree just screamed TREE OF INIFUSS.

"Daniel?" Sam asked. She watched in fascination as he transformed. Somehow no matter how many times she saw it, it still managed to amaze her. These chairs were getting close to being done learning all they could.

Daniel, now human, walked around the tree, pausing every few moments to poke at a promising spot. "I'm working on it."

"What is it that you do?" asked Alcinoe.

Sam jumped. She had forgotten about their newest companion. Alcinoe was damned quiet when she wanted to be. "Daniel is looking for a way to get this bark off. I'm going around to see if it fell off."

"So this is the Tree of Inifuss. Somehow it's less impressive than I thought." A sound cut through their conversation. It sounded like some demon attacking a hapless animal. "Alcinoe…" Sam trailed off. Once again she was too slow. Alcinoe was already gone.

"So, are you doing something with Pete after this?" Daniel asked.

"Not really. When we talked last he had a case that was taking up all his time back home. He didn't know when he would be done." Sam somehow sounded lass than enthused. Daniel could understand.

"Would you like to do something? Lunch?" Daniel offered the only comfort he could.

"Maybe." Sam sighed.

Daniel was enjoying this chance to talk to Sam, so with great regret he said, "I found it." Daniel looked around. "Now what?"

"Take it into Akara, I guess. If you can't read it?" Sam asked the last bit as a question.

"I can't. I recognize the lettering as runic in nature, but it doesn't make a whole lot of sense. I can only guess it's in code. It wouldn't be a secret if everyone could read it."

Teal'c sat in the ambiance created by his lighted candles. They weren't necessary, not for a long time. Kel'nor'reem wasn't necessary anymore. The candles still meant something to him though. He had picked out each one at a small store that had all natural products. This store sold candles that most matched the ones the Jaffa made for this purpose.

All were bought there except for the few that he placed in front of himself. Those ones were made by Jaffa. Three were from Chulak. No matter how well made the candles he found on Earth never had the same smell, the same quality of light, or the same ambience.

Teal'c wanted to be reminded of those times. As he sat with his father and learned how to Kel'nor'reem. With Bra'tac as he learned from the master all that it meant to be Jaffa.

He could remember his wife. Although it was a marriage of convince, Teal'c wasn't one to do something with only half his heart. He did love her.

And then the memories came back to his friends. SG-1. Sam had sat with him a few times, with him hooked up to machines, trying to figure out just what he did while in Kel'nor'reem. He remembered Machello's machine. When it had switched him and Jack. Jack was not easy to teach.

Finally it brought him to Daniel. Daniel who had given him back this connection to his past, his people, and his world, when he thought he had left it all behind.

It went beyond the candles, beyond the connection to his prim'ta, and went right down into him and what it meant to be Teal'c. Far from home he was forced to make a life, because he made a choice. It never meant he had to leave everything behind.

His friends were now inside a game. It was the same one that had taken him just a few weeks prior. They both seemed to be doing just fine. Jack had told him enough that they were just fine.

Countless missions and plain gut instinct told him otherwise though.

Daniel grabbed one of the Fallen Ones, nasty little creatures that they were. He was getting used to looking down and seeing an animal's body there. It was becoming more and more his own. Too bad he'd have to give it up soon. He could sense Sam behind him, probably whacking away with that large spear of hers. It was nice to know she was there.

He backhanded one of the annoying creatures. With a little luck it would stay down, without one of those damn resurrection things around.

Daniel roared. The creatures fled from him. There were many bodies scattered around, blood flowing from wounds that took lives. Some coins and weapons scattered around completed the image of utter carnage.

Something hit his back. Daniel turned around and saw Sam battling a blue version of the creatures. Every time she hit it, lightning bolts came out of it. One of the lightning bolts had hit him.

It seemed to be for the moment that the rest of the creatures had fled for the moment. Sam caught his eyes. It was one of those moments where no words passed between them but they knew what the other was thinking. It made him happy to know they had something back of their friendship.

Sam speared it in the shoulder closest to her, making it turn towards her. Daniel jumped on this opportunity, literally. The creature was distracted just long enough that Daniel was able to get on top of it and push it down to the ground. Sam then came in and finished it off.

A few more lightning balls came out of it making his skin tingle, but the creature was dead.

"So, how do we do this?"

Daniel had to change back to human so he could manipulate items. It was hard to do with large paws, which only had short fingers with long claws on the ends. He took the bark scroll out of his pack.

"This one." Once Daniel touched the stone, the glyph on it light up. "This one." Another stone's glyph lit up. "You know Jack wouldn't like it if I did this on a mission." He touched another stone.

"Jack isn't here." Sam watched as Daniel touched yet another stone.

"Is this Jack dead?" Alcinoe asked innocently. Sam was saved from answering that question though because Daniel touched the last stone.

The light of day turned dark and menacing. Lightning came down from the sky hitting the stones and arcing between them, just above their heads. The lightning came down faster and faster. Everyone was on edge not knowing what to do. The symbols on the stones glowed an eerie red.

A red doorway appeared in the middle of the circle of stones. Then, as suddenly as the storm began, it ended, leaving the red swirling portal.

"Wow."

"Wow is right. Are we ready to go rescue Cain?"

"Let's go."

Colonel Dawson didn't risk looking behind himself. He could see his team members well enough right out there in front of him. At least his remaining team members were. Levison was dead, and the… thing? event?… whatever it was that was chasing them. It glowed, and burned everything in its path. Like a black maw swooping down to eat them next. It already had killed Levison.

"Dial! Dial!" he shouted over the howl that thing created. Now that there was nothing to do until the Gate engaged, he turned around. The site before him would give him nightmares for the rest of his life… if he survived. The planet that had been so lush and green not ten hours before when they came through, now was being torn up as it progressed. Trees were dissected, bisected, and branches torn off. Animals lay strewn about, each and everyone torn limb from limb. The village, thankfully had been abandoned, but not before some had died.

There was a child, running along. She must've been playing by the river when the village was abandoned. It all had happened so fast. She was running but Dawson knew she wouldn't make it. He watched on in fascinated horror as it bore down on the little girl. He saw it when she was caught up in it and torn limb from limb, screaming the whole time.

"Colonel! We need to go now!"

His head jerked around. All the others had made it through, and it was almost upon them. Dawson turned and left that desolate planet.

As soon as his feet hit the metal Dawson called out, "Close the iris! Close the iris!"

The iris closed, but that didn't stop it completely. A power surge swept through the entire mountain, knocking out all power systems. It burned through cables and along power lines not meant to hold that kind of electricity.

One system wasn't knocked off line.

That was the chairs that held Colonel Samantha Carter, and Doctor Daniel Jackson.

The chairs absorbed the power.

The three Brothers were born. The Three Prime Evils unleashed upon an unsuspecting Sanctuary.


	3. And Everything Changes

Chapter III

By Shell Lee

The creature rarely had offspring. It needed precise conditions to reproduce. Food to it was the electrical energy signature that living beings gave off. One planet held just enough food that one of these beings could survive, and leave enough for life to bounce back after a feeding.

This particular creature liked the taste of human, so that it always made sure to leave enough of them around so that it never ran out. That was why it was so predictable.

But because there wasn't enough food for even two of these creatures on one planet, meant that the Stargate had to be open, and for the creature to be in the right place to take advantage of it, for it to reproduce. It couldn't open the Stargate itself; it didn't have any physical body.

So when Colonel Dawson opened the Stargate, the creature saw its opportunity.

It sent a part of itself through the Stargate.

"What happened?" Jack yelled into the darkness. One moment he was looking over SG-4's report on P3X-458, and the next the lights had all gone out. It took a moment for the emergency lights to kick in casting everything in a eerie glow.

"I don't know. Computers aren't responding." Siler was at a computer, typing on one of the keyboards. It didn't look like that one would come on so he moved down the line.

Most of the technicians lay on the ground, few were going around looking at the equipment, seeing what was on, what was salvageable and what was lost. To Jack's untrained eye it was all lost.

Jack left the technicians to do whatever they had to and made his way around the people lying on the floor. Trying to get his bearings on what was happening. There was glass all over the floor, from where the window had blown out. Light was spotty and most of the room lay in darkness.

Down in the gate room, the Stargate still stood, but that was about it. Colonel Dawson and his team somehow managed to survive, but many more lay unmoving on the floor.

Carmichael looked around her infirmary, all the power was out. At least there wasn't anyone who desperately needed that equipment right then. All her nurses were accounted for. The only problem was the perishable medicine, but there were special coolers to put those in.

The power outage would create many injuries. Hopefully none to serious.

Of course to create the outage something serious must have already happened.

Teal'c was still deep in kel'nor'reem when the power went out. The candles, unaffected by the outage, burned on.

Bill looked at the blasted out screens. The monitors hooked up to the chairs were goners. So was most of the equipment in his lab. The only saving grace, saving his ass from becoming General O'Neill's breakfast, was that the chairs appeared to still be fully functioning.

Still he couldn't help but wonder what could've caused not only a power outage, but a power surge as well in a system like theirs.

Blood, guts and gore dripped from Daniel's lips, not all of it red, not all of it human, none of it friendly. Surrounded by his wolves, blood dripping from their muzzles too, it looked like a deadly ballet, with Daniel in the middle.

Sam danced with death right next to Daniel. She turned, spun, and slashed at her opponents. They rarely stood a chance. Her blond hair was streaked with gore, and her armor so slick that the demons couldn't get a grip on it.

Alcinoe stayed back. Her arrows shot with deadly accuracy. Not a shot from her bow was wasted.

Together they made it to the center of town. Decard Cain sat in a cage up above the town square. Sam was the first to reach him. The rope holding the cage up was no match for her lance. Soon he was on his was to the rouge camp.

When he was gone, they were able to turn to exploring Tristram, and staying alive.

Neither of them noticed that in the heat of battle everything changed.

Jack looked around him. These people would look to him for leadership. What did they do now?

"You, you, and you," Jack pointed to three men, "I need you to go to the nearest storage room and get as many radios as possible. One has to go to the infirmary. And one has to get Teal'c. He might not know anything has happened. He was doing his meditation thing. Give them to anyone else you come across. Siler, report."

"All the computers are down. Most of the electronics need to be replaced. There's nothing I can do about it. But the backup generators should be up by now."

"Can it be the same thing that brought the computers down?"

"I don't know. I'll need to see it."

"Take whoever you need and go there." Jack turned around. "Everyone else, break out the first aid kits." There were a lot of bodies on the floor, and not a lot of people standing.

It was going to be a long day.

The three of them had camped out in the blood moor that night. They had given their last scroll of town portal, the one that would create a portal to the sisters camp, to Cain. So they had to go the long way.

It wasn't too bad. The demons weren't as numerous and the area around the camp was starting to clear out. Some of the farmers were even going back to their homes, see what was left of their lives.

But on the heroes, it was still an uphill battle.

Sam looked across the fire at their companion, Alcinoe. She was making arrows. Violently. Being a human being, Sam knew something was wrong. Being a military person, She didn't want to delve into personal issues. Sam never knew how to handle other peoples emotions very well.

Daniel knew people though, and saved Sam the embarrassment. "Did the arrow do something to deserve that?"

Alcinoe paused, and set the arrow and knife down. When she looked at Daniel, Sam could see the tears in her eyes.

"It was Annor. I knew her very well. She got into all this stuff, and I knew when she wasn't in the camp, but seeing her, having to kill her…" The tears started flowing down over her face. "She was my friend."

Daniel shuffled over on the ground to her. He just held her. Enveloped her, really, with his arms completely encircling her. "It's hard when we find out the people we know aren't who we thought they were."

"She was my friend." It came out more a sob than words.

"I know."

The tent they were in felt tiny all of a sudden. Emotion taking up the extra space, almost a person in itself. Sam found she needed some air.

Outside the tent, she thought about it all. This was a game, just some stupid game. Andariel wasn't real. Alcinoe wasn't real.

Right then Sam doubted it.

It was so unfair to this young lady, barely even twenty, to have to kill her former friends, comrades, and sisters in arms.

And it all made Sam want to kill something. Preferably Andariel.

What? Who is it? Oh, is that you, Tyrel? I suppose you would like to hear the story, huh?

I met the Dark Wanderer in a tavern. My nightmares from Tristram still plaguing me…

Sam, Daniel and Alcinoe arrived the next day, but the festivities were still going strong. People were dancing even. Gheed must have loosened up his tight fist because the wine was flowing freely. Some of the farmers had brought, or made some, instruments and there was music.

The bonfire in the center of camp burned brightly with the latest victory over the forces of darkness.

Alcinoe flinched back from the festivities. She was still bad off. Sam would have to talk to Kashya about her. Maybe there was something to be done to raise her spirits.

Warrive danced with Charsi. And somehow a sister had convinced Kashya to dance. Akara was sitting off to one side, observing everything, but she had such a smile on her face, watching everyone dance. Next to her sat Cain.

A very familiar Cain. Sam gasped. It wasn't something she expected, but then again she didn't get a good look at him when they rescued him. Daniel had cut him down and given him the scroll. Cain looked like her father, Jacob Carter.

After we left the Monastery, it took a long time to get across the desert. How many days was it? A hundred? More? It seemed an eternity spent in that waste land. Always to the east.

The desert stretched on for miles. Each day my companion seemed to get stronger. Or maybe it was the demon inside that grew in strength.

Finally stretched out below us lay the glittering jewel, Lut Gholein.

We camped above the city that night.


End file.
